Reid is also under contract through 2013. Buying him out would not be cheap.

So take a deep breath, and be prepared for a Reid Redux in 2012. That said, I’m worried. I’m worried because if you’re not getting better in the NFL, you’re getting worse. I broke down Donovan McNabb’s numbers here back in April 2010 when McNabb was traded. So let’s dissect the Reid era.

Andy Reid, Wins By Year

1999-2004: On the Way Up

Obviously 1999 was the beginning of the rebuilding. Interestingly, Reid’s first year, 5-win total actually improved upon 1998’s 3 win campaign, the last under Ray Rhodes. Throw out all the other stats: wins matter. And win he did, steadily rising up to 2004’s 13 win total (which, had they had anything to play for the last few weeks of the season, would have undoubtedly be greater). Note the consistency.

End of an Era?

Not only has Reid been on a downward spiral since 2005, but he has also been maddeningly inconsistent. And not only from season to season, but within seasons. Consider 2006; the Eagles were 5-6 before miraculously running off 5 consecutive wins to seize the division.

In 2009 they seemed to catch lightning in a bottle, but still came up short. Mike Vick’s 2010 season clouded the reality of a team in disarray. The team we saw at the conclusion of the 2010 season was in fact the Real Eagles – the Eagles we see before us now. A bad team.

His teams since 2005 have shown Zero signs of the steady, consistent improvement that marked the first half of his tenure here.

Singletary-ed Out

Mike Singletary does not have a head coaching job. As it turns out, football requires preparation, practice, effective staff, offensive and defensive game planning, flawless special teams, extensive study of the opposition, and decisive leadership, among other things. It’s very exciting to see all that Rah-Rah emotional, passionate, exuberant stuff. But it just doesn’t get it done in the NFL. In the NFL, the smooth, business-like operations are the ones that fare best. Here’s the plan, execute it or get cut or fired. Or get publicly humiliated by a middling coach if you’re Donovan McNabb.

There’s no plan in San Fracisco. Hasn’t been one in some time. Singletary was not seasoned enough for a head coaching position – he may not have the temperament

Sadly, Divine Intervention Was Not Forthcoming

for it at all. He never should have been hired in the first place – regardless of whether he has what it takes to be a head coach, he certainly didn’t have enough Xs and Os experience.

Great players rarely make very good coaches, and without experience and guidance, they never do. This isn’t any great new idea. More often than not, it’s a fringe guy, one of the ones that really had to bust it to make the team who become great coaches. Why? I think it’s simple: the harder you have to work for it, the better you understand the persistence and preparation required to be successful.

Take a look at Phil Jackson’s playing career. Or Bill Belichik’s (assuming he had one). Now I’m not saying it’s always a lock that just any fringe player can become a Superior Head Coach. I am saying that The Great Talents in sport almost never do. Bart Starr was the Packers’ Head Coach for 9 seasons. He made the playoffs once. Wayne Gretzky coached the Phoenix Coyotes for four seasons and never made the playoffs – in a league in which everyone makes the playoffs.

Conversely, Sean Payton (a 1987 NFL scab, no less) sports a 3 game career NFL Passer Rating of 27.3. Any person who’s never played an NFL game in their life has a 39.6 rating. A 27.3 is so mind-bogglingly poor it defies description. And yet the man surely has at least one more Super Bowl Ring than I have.

To his credit, Jed York says first things first: he’s getting himself a General Manager. That’s a start, and should be of some comfort to Niner Fans.

And after the GM is hired – and assuming the CBA is sorted out – a coach will be selected.

Mike “Jerk or Genius” Shanahan Edition

I suppose the only way you can get rid of both Donovan McNabb and Rex Grossman at the end of 2010 is to throw McNabb under the bus, and then to let Grossman actually play. Shanahan was “honest” to a fault when explaining the decision to bascially run over McNabb 4 or 5 times with several buses. No one can explain Mike’s letting Rex Grossman play in an NFL game.

The Real Winner: Andy Reid

Asked for an explanation, Shanahan turned to an impenetrable form of double (possibly triple) talk:

“I think there’s a lot of mistakes that you make. You really don’t know if you made a mistake, but if you do make one, you make it and you go on. What I want to do is evaluate where we’re at at the end of the season, then I will tell you if we erred or not.” (From ESPN).

You said it, Mike. That pretty much sums up the Washington Redskins under Daniel Snyder.

1pm

ST. LOUIS -3 over Kansas City. *Shrug* someone has to win.

Houston +2 over TENNESSEE. Maybe Jeff Fisher can coach the Broncos into obscurity next year.

The End Is Near

Already at Week 15, and still only 9 teams have been eliminated. Hard to believe that San Francisco, St. Louis and Seattle are not among those eliminated.

Poor Officiating and Michael Vick

I was stunned Sunday night during the Eagles-Cowboys tilt, when penalty after penalty went uncalled. Of course, I was biased in the Eagles direction. In particular, there was a missed facemask on Trent Cole, and, perhaps more egregiously, Anthony Spencer’s unnecessarily rough treatment of Michael Vick as Vick was going out of bounds.

I’ve watched football for a long, long time, and yes, that call can occasionally be missed. But only rarely. I don’t see running backs, or wideouts, or even kick returners getting roughed up like that. And if they do get roughed up like that, there’s a flag.

And there should have been a flag Sunday night. Vick was clearly letting up and clearly headed out of bounds. Is something more afoot here?

We'll Just Plop Our Hockey Rinks Right HERE

I find it difficult to blame the players. They will take anything they can get. Just ask James Harrison. But I am curious about the non-action of the referees. And I found someone else questioning this issue, too: Gregg Easterbrook, in this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback column (published at, of all places, ESPN, the Cartoon Network of Sport). Easterbrook writes:

Are officials, as Andy Reid contends, allowing hits on Vick that they would flag if against Tom Brady or Peyton Manning — or for that matter against other quarterbacks who run, such as Aaron Rodgers (55 rushing attempts) or Ryan Fitzpatrick (36 rushing attempts)? That zebras are letting Vick take illegal hits seems indisputable. It’s not just that officials regard Vick as a runner even when he’s in a passing stance — penalties should be called if defenders hit the knees or helmets of players in a passing stance. TMQ thinks there is a psychological factor, too. Vick is an African-American who has been to prison. Society devalues people of that description, and allows them to be treated in ways that others are not. This is subtly different from racism, but a factor nonetheless. Ex-convicts who show no remorse are one thing; Vick paid his debt and by appearances at least is a changed man. Yet officials seem to view him as someone who’s OK to try to harm. The NFL and its officials need to have a look in the mirror about this.

113,411 people turned out to watch the Michigan – Michigan State Hockey game. NFL (not to mention its Criminal Co-Conspirators, NCAA Division 1 and the BCS) Football is not the only game in town.

8:20pm

SAN DIEGO -10 over San Francisco. I have no clue about this game. Is anyone hurt? I can’t imagine San Francisco pulling out this road game, and quite frankly, don’t want to.